FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
One Light becomes a living laboratory for human origin, creator rights, responsible AI and human-centered economic participation, incorporating key insights from Human Factor
International / Vienna — September 11, 2026 — The Council for Interdisciplinary Research and Applied Science (CIRAS) today announced the action phase of the CIRAS Sovereign Human Economy, an interdisciplinary initiative designed to strengthen human creativity, authorship, digital identity, responsibility and economic participation as artificial intelligence rapidly transforms society and the global economy.
As part of this next phase, CIRAS is incorporating key insights from Human Factor, developed by Martina Hautau, Director, CIRAS Center for Media connecting technological infrastructure with the human competencies required for leadership, ethical judgment and responsible decision-making in an increasingly AI-driven world.
At the center of the initiative is the One Light Community, which CIRAS is developing as a living laboratory where artists, creators, researchers, companies, technologists and citizens can test new models for human authorship, provenance, digital identity, AI licensing, creator rights, human–AI collaboration and fair economic participation.
The initiative is based on a central principle:
Technological progress must strengthen human agency rather than disconnect people from creativity, responsibility and economic value.
Artificial intelligence can now generate images, music, video, voices, text and design at unprecedented speed and scale. At the same time, AI systems and autonomous agents are becoming increasingly embedded in professional teams, organizations and digital environments.
For CIRAS, this creates two defining questions for the AI age:
Can human beings continue to make a living from creating?
And:
Can human beings remain sovereign, accountable and responsible when intelligent systems become part of everyday life and work?
The Sovereign Human Economy addresses both.
From “Created by Human” to Verifiable Human Origin
A central research area of the Sovereign Human Economy is Verifiable Human Origin.
The aim is to make human authorship more transparent and verifiable by enabling creative works to carry information about their origin, creator, production history, AI involvement and licensing conditions.
Possible classifications could include:
Human Origin
Human Authored — AI Assisted
Human + AI Co-Created
AI Generated
The purpose is not to reject artificial intelligence.
It is to create transparency and trust.
Audiences should know what they are experiencing. Collectors should know what they are buying. Companies should know what they are licensing. Creators should be able to demonstrate what they actually created.
The same principle can contribute to a more trustworthy digital environment by helping distinguish authentic human activity from synthetic or automated activity.
Restoring Digital Integrity
The Sovereign Human Economy also addresses the growing challenge of synthetic identities, fake profiles, automated bot networks, manipulated media and coordinated digital campaigns.
CIRAS is exploring verifiable human-origin systems and biologically anchored authentication signals as potential tools for distinguishing human and synthetic activity online.
The objective is to strengthen digital integrity and accountability while developing appropriate safeguards for privacy and human dignity.
A trustworthy digital environment requires more than sophisticated technology. It requires a renewed connection between identity, action and responsibility.
Human sovereignty therefore includes both rights and accountability.
Creators Must Control How AI Uses Their Work
CIRAS believes that creators should be able to define how artificial intelligence interacts with their intellectual property.
A creator could, for example, choose to permit research use while refusing commercial AI training, license selected works for AI development, require attribution for derivative use, prohibit voice cloning, or establish specific commercial conditions.
The principle is:
Permission rather than assumption.
Human creators should remain connected to their work, their rights and the economic value generated from their intellectual property.
CIRAS is researching new models that could enable transparent licensing while giving responsible technology companies access to rights-cleared human creative content.
AI Can Join the Team — Human Leadership Remains Essential
The integration of Human Factor extends the Sovereign Human Economy into the future of work and leadership.
Artificial intelligence is understood not simply as a replacement for human labor, but increasingly as an intelligent assistant and, in some cases, a functional member of mixed human–AI teams.
Within this model, roles must remain clearly defined.
AI can provide automated data processing, pattern recognition, analysis and functional support at significant scale.
Humans contribute ethical evaluation, empathy, contextual understanding, experience-based intuition, final decision-making and overall responsibility.
The principle is clear:
AI can support leadership. It should not eliminate human responsibility.
Leaders therefore need the ability to guide AI systems deliberately, critically evaluate their outputs and establish meaningful ethical guardrails around their use.
Human Capability as Critical Infrastructure
The Sovereign Human Economy recognizes that technological infrastructure alone cannot create human sovereignty.
Individuals also require the personal and leadership competencies necessary to navigate environments increasingly shaped by automation, persuasive technologies and artificial intelligence.
Human Factor contributes practical approaches focused on areas including attention sovereignty, resilience to manipulation, emotional stability and collaborative intelligence.
These capabilities become increasingly important when digital systems can influence attention, behavior, communication and decision-making at scale.
A human-centered AI economy therefore requires both:
technological infrastructure that protects human identity and rights,
and
human capability that protects judgment, responsibility and agency.
One Light: The Living Laboratory of the Human Economy
The One Light Community will provide a practical environment in which these concepts can be tested and developed.
Artists can test Human Origin and provenance tools.
Photographers can explore verifiable production histories.
Musicians can test royalty and contributor models.
Creators can experiment with AI licensing permissions.
Researchers can evaluate human–AI collaboration.
Companies can participate under Human Economy principles.
AI developers can explore rights-cleared creative ecosystems.
Leaders can develop new approaches to managing AI agents while retaining human authority and responsibility.
The goal is to move beyond theory and build real-world models that can be evaluated, improved and potentially scaled.
One Light is therefore envisioned not simply as a community, but as a living laboratory for a human-centered digital economy.
Building New Markets for Human Creativity
CIRAS is also researching how verified human intellectual property could participate in new economic models.
A future Human Creative Corpus could enable creators to voluntarily offer selected works for clearly defined purposes such as publishing, commercial licensing, research or AI training.
A related Human Creativity Royalty Pool could provide mechanisms for creators to participate collectively in revenues generated through licensed human intellectual property.
Such models could create a new relationship between creators and AI developers.
Technology companies could gain access to transparent and rights-cleared human content.
Creators could gain greater control, attribution and economic participation.
The long-term objective is simple:
AI innovation should not require the economic disappearance of human creators.
A Framework for Responsible Companies
The Sovereign Human Economy is also intended to provide a pathway for companies seeking to participate responsibly in the AI transformation.
CIRAS plans to develop principles and qualification criteria addressing areas including:
respect for human provenance, transparent AI use, fair licensing, creator remuneration, privacy, responsible AI governance, ethical leadership and recognition of human intellectual property.
Organizations should also ensure that meaningful human authority and accountability remain present when AI systems participate in operational or strategic decision-making.
Responsible AI therefore requires more than technical compliance.
It requires culture, judgment and leadership.
Three Dimensions of Human Sovereignty
The expanded CIRAS framework brings together three interconnected dimensions:
Digital Sovereignty — protecting human identity, provenance, authenticity and digital integrity.
Economic Sovereignty — ensuring creators remain connected to the ownership, licensing and economic value of their work.
Human Sovereignty — strengthening the capabilities required for people to remain responsible, resilient and capable of leadership in environments shaped by artificial intelligence.
Together, these elements form the foundation of the CIRAS Sovereign Human Economy.
Global Call for Participation
CIRAS and One Light invite artists, creators, researchers, cultural institutions, technologists, responsible companies and leaders worldwide to participate in the initiative.
Questions surrounding AI training, authorship, synthetic media, creator compensation, voice and likeness rights, digital provenance, automated decision-making and human intellectual property are being determined now.
Human creators and citizens should have an active role in shaping those decisions.
The message to the creative community is direct:
The Human Economy cannot be built for artists without artists.
AI Beside the Human
The Sovereign Human Economy is not an anti-AI initiative.
Artificial intelligence can be a powerful creative, scientific and economic tool.
CIRAS seeks to establish a relationship in which technological capability remains aligned with human agency:
AI beside the human.
AI supporting human creativity.
AI operating through transparent rules.
AI guided by human responsibility.
AI using human work with permission.
AI generating value without disconnecting humans from that value.
The objective is not to stop technological progress.
It is to ensure that technological progress remains connected to human progress.
CIRAS SOVEREIGN HUMAN ECONOMY
Human Identity.
Human Origin.
Human Dignity.
Human Rights.
Human Leadership.
Human-Controlled AI.
Human Economic Participation.
ONE LIGHT
The Living Laboratory of the Human Economy.
About CIRAS
The Council for Interdisciplinary Research and Applied Science (CIRAS) is an international research institution working at the intersection of science, technology and society. Through the Sovereign Human Economy and the One Light Community, CIRAS develops models focused on safeguarding human authorship, digital identity and economic participation.
About Human Factor
Human Factor, developed by Martina Hautau, Director, CIRAS Center for Media is a holistic framework focused on strengthening core human competencies in the digital age, including attention sovereignty, resilience to manipulation, emotional stability and collaborative intelligence.
